Super Makinet Six and Neure Six
The Super Makinet Six is a Japanese 6×6 strut folder, made by Umemoto No original document has been found to confirm this but it is stated in the Umemoto company history that seems to be redacted by the son of the Umemoto founder. and advertised from 1936 to 1939. Dates: advertisements mentioned in , p. 341. It was distributed by the retailer Kikō-Dō. Some sources For example McKeown, p. 928. attribute the camera to Tomioka but this is clearly a mistake, perhaps because one version has a Lausar lens made by this manufacturer. The Neure Six is a name variant of the same camera. Description Both cameras have a folding body, with scissor struts on the top and bottom of the front standard. It is dual format and can take 6×6 or 4.5×6 exposures by way of an internal mask. The folding optical finder is in the middle of the top plate and the advance knob is to the right end. The shutter release is directly mounted on the shutter housing. The back is hinged to the left. There is a leg folding behind the front standard, allowing the camera to stand vertically on a table. The Super Makinet Six On the Super Makinet Six (スーパーマキネットシックス), the front leather is embossed MAKINET on one side and SUPER on the other. says that the camera was featured in the new products column of the February 1936 issue of Asahi Camera. , p. 341. An advertisement dated April 1937 Published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in , p. 94. lists two versions: * Radionar f/4.5 lens, Rulex A shutter, 1–200 speeds ( ); * Lausar f/4.5 lens, Rulex B shutter, 5–150 speeds The advertisement mentions 1/200 top speed for the Rulex B but the 1/150 value is given by another advertisement dated February 1939 and by the following sources: Umemoto company history, , p. 341 and McKeown, p. 928. ( ). An advertisement dated August 1937 Published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in , p. 94. presents an ordinary model (普及型) with Super Anastigmat f/4.5 lens and Rulex D shutter. No price is indicated. In the advertising picture, there are two bars in front of the finder's front element, indicating the field of view for 4.5×6 exposures. The previous advertising picture was showing a different arrangement that is not clearly visible, perhaps the same two bars behind the same finder element. A price list dated June 1938 Published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in , p. 75. and an advertisement dated February 1939 Published in Asahi Camera, reproduced in , p. 75. both give the three same versions at slightly upper prices: Radionar and Rulex A for , Lausar and Rulex B for , Super and Rulex D for . The version with Rulex D is still called "ordinary model" in the 1938 price list but not in the 1939 advertisement. For some reason, the cases sold for the Rulex D version and for the other versions are listed separately and they differ in price in the 1938 list. The Neure Six The Neure Six (ノイレシックス) is exactly similar to the Super Makinet Six. The front leather is embossed NEURE SIX on one side and SUPER on the other. The camera was only briefly advertised at the end of 1937. , p. 341. In an advertisement dated November 1937, the camera name is incoherently written as "Nuire-Six" in Roman spelling. It seems that the designers of the advertisement were not aware of the name written on the camera. In the Japanese advertising text, the name is given once as "Super Neure Six" (スーパー・ノイレシックス). The camera is pictured with a Rulex shutter by Neumann & Heilemann and a folding optical finder having two bars indicating the field of view for 4.5×6 exposures. The following lens and shutter combinations are listed: The only company name given by the advertisement perhaps reads Ein Camera Works (アイン・カメラ・イオークス), a company based in Osaka The address indicated in the advertisement is in Osaka but it is not fully readable. that is otherwise unknown. This camera was obviously made by the same maker as the Super Makinet Six but it does not seem that it was distributed by Kikō-Dō. This is not what is said in the Umemoto company history but it does not seem to have precise documentation about the Neure Six. No surviving example of the Neure Six has yet been observed. Notes Bibliography * Items 250–1. (See also the advertisements for item 126.) * P. 928. Links In Japanese: * Company history at the Umemoto official website Category: Japanese 6x6 viewfinder folding Category: 6x6 strut folding Category: S Makinet Six, Super